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WHO IS YOUR HIGH PRIEST?

by Julia Glattfelt

Some seem to believe that the Law of Moses was given only to a certain people during a certain time. Furthermore, that when Yeshua was here on earth he only followed the Torah to meet the requirements of it, and only taught the Torah to those who already tried to follow the Law of Moses. They contend that upon His death and resurrection the Law was abolished in His blood, and now all we have to do is follow our heart led by the spirit.

When asked about the Ten Commandments, most generally agree that these commandments are still good to uphold, but then say they are not requirements of the Father anymore. They justify removing the fourth commandment because they have replaced it with Sunday worship. They tell us “Torah-Keepers” that we are in error because the Levitical priesthood has been replaced by Yeshua as our High Priest in heaven.

While it is most certainly true that He is our High Priest, they go on to say that any attempt to keep the Torah leaves us in limbo (without an advocate) because the Torah was administered by the Levitical Priesthood, and only they can perform this function.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

The Levites were servants to YHVH, but they didn’t provide forgiveness! YHVH is the one who accepted or rejected the prayers and sacrificial offerings presented in the Temple. The priests, themselves, could not forgive anyone anything. [Don’t confuse the Father’s Torah with the doctrines of the RCC.] Only the Father grants grace and forgiveness! It was always so. The Levites had to perform sacrifices for themselves before they could advocate on behalf of the people of Israel. It was a repetitive event because they were men with weaknesses just like the rest of Israel.

This then is the key to understanding this shift. Our High Priest is immortal, invisible, YHVH! He who never sinned took our penalty for breaking His Torah, and is our direct advocate when we fall short. It is permanent.

Heb 7:24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.
Heb 7:25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
Heb 7:26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
Heb 7:27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

Heb 7:28 For the LAW APPOINTS MEN in their weakness as high priests, but the WORD of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

WHY DO WE NEED A HIGH PRIEST?

If the Law of Moses (which defines Sin) has been abandoned, why do we need a High Priest? How do we define sin? Isn’t his Torah what convicts us? Isn’t the Torah our tutor and guide so that we understand what sin is?

Rom 7:7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

1Jn 3:4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

Since it is clear by the scriptures that the Law is how we know when we are outside of His will, it is a great blessing that He is now our High Priest! We Need Him!

WHAT IS THE BETTER PROMISE?

Without understanding the Torah and the Temple services the book of Hebrews is confusing. It can sound like Paul is speaking against the Law of Moses! He is not. He is simply trying to explain how the King of Righteousness (order of Melchizedek) that pre-dated the Levitical priesthood, is based on a better promise (His eternal life).

Instead of men as intermediaries, we have direct access to the Father by our High Priest, Yeshua! It is better because Yeshua’s sacrifice on our behalf was once and for all, and it was a divine ‘oath’ that declared Him so! That is better than a priesthood by inheritance.

He was sinless, and the first to move from this temporal life into heaven as our perpetual High Priest. It’s all part of YHVH’s plan of redemption for us! Just as the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, and the Temple in Jerusalem! Just as we look to the New Jerusalem to come!

WHO HAS AUTHORITY?

Why do we leap to a conclusion that because we have a new (permanent) High Priest that, somehow, the entire Torah has become obsolete?

One poster circulating on Facebook says “For those in the Hebrew Roots Movement and other Law-keeping sects who adhere to the Old Covenant laws and practices, who is your high priest? How do you reconcile the fact that Yeshua, being of the tribe of Judah, cannot legally administer the old covenant to which you currently adhere?”

No scripture is presented for this astonishing pronouncement. IF I were to fall for the Facebook poster, I would have to agree that Yeshua is only a man, bound by the prerequisites of the Levitical laws, and that the ‘Old Covenant’ is no longer valid. So how is it that the One who gave us the Law has no authority to administer that Law? Let’s look at it and see where the error lies.

First of all, she is mixing things up by saying the high priest in heaven cannot administer the ‘Old Covenant.’ The Law of Moses (‘Old’ Covenant) was spoken by the Mouth of YHVH. Covenants are different than contracts. They are permanent.

Then she says that because Yeshua was of the tribe of Judah it is illegal for Him to administer the Law. Again, we must understand that the administration of the Levites did not overturn YHVH’s authority. The Levites were following His covenant, not performing some man-made ritual based on man-made laws. They were servants to demonstrate YHVH’s grace and forgiveness until He came in the flesh. To confer some extraordinary power to the Levites is to elevate them above the Father.
Yeshua IS the Law-giver, One with the Father, Author and Finisher (Aleph-Tav) of our faith, and the first fruits in the Heavenly Tabernacle, fulfilling His plan to be our High Priest in Heaven and declared so by an “oath” from the Father! Why would anyone suppose that He is bound by any other authority? He IS the authority! He is not ‘illegally’ administering the ‘Old Covenant.’ He is absolutely in line with His Torah now, just as he was when He was on Earth.

WHAT LAW CHANGED?

The ‘change’ in the Law is this: He is our advocate in Heaven (rather than on Earth) to administer His Covenant that He renewed in His own blood. It is better because He is a perfect sacrifice. It is better because He is able to understand our condition. He is our High Priest, able to be the advocate for the entire nation of Israel, just as the earthly high priest modeled once a year on Yom Kippur. It is better because He is perfect and eternal – just as His Law is perfect and eternal.

Psa 19:7 The Law of the LORD is PERFECT, restoring life. The testimony of the LORD is steadfast, making foolish people wise.

Jas_1:25 But the one who looks at the PERFECT law of freedom and remains committed to it—thereby demonstrating that he is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of what that law requires—will be blessed in what he does.

Psa 119:142 Your righteousness is an ETERNAL righteousness, and your instruction is true.

Psa 119:160 The sum of your word is truth, and each righteous ordinance of yours is EVERLASTING.

Outstanding article, Julia. It is obvious that you are a disciple of Yeshua and that you have spent a lot of time with the Master. So few have a clue as to the veracity of the legal arguments presented by Paul concerning the importance of the sacrifices and the supercession of the Levitical priesthood by that of the order of the Melech Tzadek. This article is an articulate demonstration of “the Faith once delivered to the Saints” – before it was replaced by the “sweet baby Jesus” gospel. Keep writing…